Bejeweled
Crystal Clear "All of these humans gathering around for their own demise," Scylla mused, casting a lazy eye in the direction of her opponent, an admittedly attractive girl with long black hair, mismatched eyes, and a flowing red dress. "Your species never ceases to amaze me, but I suppose, out of all the humans I could be stuck killing, I'd rather be stuck with a supple one like yourself." Esmeralda, in her black and red outfit, descended from the skies- using subtle magic manipulation to do so. With a not-too-friendly smile, she analyzed her opponent. "Dragon, I see. For a rare species you guys certainly are out a lot. But you all are just a bunch of toothy flying lizards." "Do you see a lizard standing before you?" Scylla replied, her dress fluttering with the flow of the wind. With the snap of her fingers ("I love that sound.") a weapon materialized in her hand with a glow. It was a hammer, oddly designed, with an s-shaped bladed on the backside; equally colored in blue and white, the hammer itself eesily exceeded Scylla in height, and yet the girl hoisted it over her shoulder with a single hand. "Now, let's start our playtime. I want to see if you humans break easily with things like these." Esmeralda could see though her guise- she was a dragon, naturally. She manifested a large blade with a azure hilt with light wrappings and a short length of chain at its base. This was some sort of weapon based on Jason's previous one, apparently- though it wasn't too certain. "You shouldn't underestimate humans. We're capable of cruelty beyond comprehension, especially against things that scare us." She beckoned Scylla to make the first move. Scylla didn't need telling twice. Lifting her hammer well over her head, she slammed it down onto the fragment of island she was standing on. There was a massive explosion of physical force as the area the hammer made contact with exploded from sheer physical strength, and a blast of compressed air was released towards Esmeralda, tearing away at the ocean to collide with the girl. Esmeralda simply raised a sword into the air, slicing the currents back at Scylla. She leapt into the air, charging up flames upon her blade, swinging a torrent of infernal fires towards the dragon that was encased within human form. Swinging the hammer again, parting the air, the force of the simple wind pressure parted the flames, leaving the impressive image of Scylla standing among falling embers. There was what appeared to be a circular gust of wind beneath her slim feet, and she rose into the air. "I suppose one of the things I missed about being a dragon was flight," She mused aloud. "You humans are so confined to the ground it's almost pitiable. True, uninhibited flight. This actually took some time to develop. But unlike the rest of you..." She swung the hammer down at her side, creating another massive explosion of wind pressure that destroyed the island fragment underneath her. "I won't be needing these." As she floated higher, the hammer faded from her hands and she flexed her tiny fists. Brushing the hair out of her eyes — something she found intriguing, rather than annoying, as most humans would — she pushed off from thin air, rocketing towards Esmeralda with the force of a human-powered megaton warhead. She focused a great deal of force into her fist, thrusting it forward as she closed in on Esmeralda. "Like I said before." Esmeralda sighed- she tended to hate people who believed that their race was inherently better than anyone else. Somewhat hypocritically, she was in that exact same boat. "Don't underestimate us humans, you stupid lizard." She raised her blade, focusing a black electricity upon it- before she thrust forward in Scylla's direction, releasing a bright flash - this was Spark Bolt, a high-level spell of hers. "Far from underestimating you," Scylla only narrowly avoided the flash of electricity, spiraling out of control and sliding a few feet away from Esmeralda along the surface of the water. "I find humans to be such a fascination existence! Human sensations are so....exhilarating." She took a pause, more than likely for dramatic tension to her speed. "As a Dragon, you think you have it all...then you take on a form like this and everything overloads your mind. While hearing and sight are dulled, touch and taste senses are spectacular, the sheer amount of human emotion overwhelm." She paused again, looking innocently curious as she added an afterthought, "I hear human intercourse isn't that bad either..." Esmeralda simply sighed- a lot of the time, everything tended to devolve into something sexual, didn't it? She didn't know what this world had with sex jokes. "Even so...though I feel as if mankind can surpass any other race...dragons aren't a bad start." She ran her bare hand against her blade. "Maybe inside your body...there's something that can help mankind surpass itself." Of course, what she meant was she was gonna cut her down and all that. "Very well. Come at me with your strongest. I will crush it like an ant." "Humans rising up against all odds...?" Scylla eyed her. "I suppose that's what makes you such an interesting species, honestly. But don't you think that's cliché? I've read it a few stories over the years." Gripping her weapon, she hoisted it to her side. "This isn't a storybook, little girl." Scylla's grey eyes narrowed, her magical energy beginning to leak from her body. "I will crush you here and now." She inhaled, her cheeks puffing up, a sight that would have been cute if the magical power emanating from her wasn't so intimidating. "Diamond Dragon's Roar!" The girl expelled a violent tornado of magical energy and wind, mixed in with shards of diamond. A veritable adamant barrage. Esmeralda attempted to raise her blade in order to defend against Syclla's attack, though the innumerable shards smashed through her sword, shattering it with the ease of a peanut being crushed by a boulder. Esmeralda herself was impaled right through the stomach with one of the shards, sending her crashing backwards. She slowly stood, yanking the gem out; quipping, "It'll take more than that." Reforming her sword for the briefest of moments, she swung down harshly- unleashing a wave of scarlet and jet-black light towards the dragon. "She's...still moving?" Scylla frowned, as the wave of scarlet and jet-black light enveloped her within seconds, creating an arc that shot well past the girl. When the light died down, she was revealed to still be standing in her spot, clothing frayed slightly, and her skin no longer it's pale complexion; instead, it had become studded with diamond. "As powerful as that attack looked, it can't pierce the scales of the Diamond Dragon." Brushing her hair back, the scales began to fall and crumble from her body, revealing her porcelain complexion once again. "I'm going to need to keep you still..." Her eyes shifted to an icy glower, and she raised her hand in a threatening manner. Chains manifested from the tips of her fingers, and the girl drew her hand back, the chains following suit. "Chain Pain!" She thrust her arm forward, and the chains came down towards Esmeralda, extending like violent whips. BANG! The chains smashed into Esmeralda's body with the force of bricks; knocking her off her feet, tumbling down a nearby cliff, her body contorting oddly as she slowly picked herself up, stumbling around on her feet. "Not here...!" She gritted her teeth- grasping her blade's hilt with both of her hands, she prepared her final attack; charging energy within it. This darkness spread around her body, taking the form of a shadowy dress which cloaked her body as green lines pulsed down it. She let out a roar, swinging her sword towards Scylla- it took the form of a wave of light, zooming towards her draconic foe. Inhaling deeply, Scylla let out a bellow of sound and energy, releasing a Diamond Dragon's Roar once again. The diamonds, enveloped in a twister of magical energy, tore across the ocean towards the rushing wave of light, slamming into it and tunneling like a drill before both blasts exploded, forcing the water apart very briefly. To Scylla, a former Dragon, releasing a Breath Attack was second nature and molding the magic for it required only seconds; in terms of that kind of skill and control, she had a pressed advantage. "So you're pressing yourself for more power?" Scylla asked, running her tongue along her thin fingers, an odd gesture that made no sense. "Are you trying to push me to the very edge of my power now; do you want to see me test my true Caliber against you?" Esmeralda stood once more, ready to fight. She charged darkness into her weapon, forming a laser-esque blade. "Ready when you are." This laser expanded and multiplied, forming dozens upon dozens of dark flames that shot towards her opponent. "That truly is immense magical power," Scylla replied, and at the moment of her speech, her own magical energy began to surge. "So, in honour of your skill, I will show you something rare. One of my strongest spells; I don't use it for just every human. Dragon Blast Caliber — Ring of Black Stakes Piercing All Creation." Multiple small crosses began to glow around the small pieces of land the two had to work with — designated by Scylla midbattle — and a magic circle formed behind her body, hovering just above her head. The circle opened, resembling a circular door, and from this door materialized a multitude of diamonds. With their length, they resembled lances. Scylla snapped her fingers, and the onslaught began to fire towards Esmeralda. The diamonds, reinforced with Scylla's powerful magical energy, tore through the flames that Esmeralda had generated, tunneling towards the air straight for her. The diamonds smashed into her once more. Esmeralda was probably the inverse of a Stormtrooper, as she generally couldn't dodge for shit. Esmeralda was thrown back like she was blown away by some sort of tornado, before she utilized her shadowy magic in order to latch onto the earth and ground herself. "Dammit...!" Spitting out blood, the dark magician regained her composure, though she was painfully aware that she was at her limit. It was for her final attack- Esmeralda charged the remains of her blade with magical energy, forming a sword of pure energy as she shouted "Issei Metsuken!" The swing downwards produced a wave of black and crimson light that tore through the atmosphere in an attempt to chase Scylla to the ends of the earth. "That's it...!" Scylla inhaled deeply, before releasing a Diamond Dragon's Roar directly at the oncoming crimson energy blast. However, the technique wasn't meant to counter the blast; the Roar ground against the side of the energy attack, utilizing its own force to slightly adjust the trajectory of the oncoming attack. The blast shot directly past Scylla, causing her hair to ripple as the energy brushed past her. "I'm sorry...but this is my victory." Scylla raised a hand towards Esmeralda. "I've seen the future, and there's something waiting for me past this human struggle." The pointed hand rose above her head; calculating the speed of that energy attack, along with the force of her Roar, she had approximately a minute before it redirected itself back at her. The island pieces around her began to rise and coalesce above her head. The earthen material began to collect into a focal point about her head — to a Diamond Dragon, this was nothing. The dirt, rocks, and soil began to collapse under pressure generated by Scylla, and a large sphere was formed; a sphere made entirely of a diamond. "Be grateful, human. You've earned yourself the right to bear witness to another Dragon's Caliber. Diamond Realm Bursting Through the Earth." The sphere was ejected from her palm, flying high into the air and out of sight. Scylla looked up at the sky as her attack traveled high into the air, vanishing above the clouds, breaking through the atmosphere of the dirt ball they lived on. Within seconds, the sphere began to descend again, like a powerful meteor, utilizing the gravity of the planet to push it further and increase the speed of its fall, adding power to the impending collision. It's target: Esmeralda. With a loud explosion that rang throughout the ears of all in the immediate vicinity and deafened any other immediate noise, the sphere impacted upon Esmeralda's small body, sending her flying out of Scylla's sight in a single move. There was no real need for anything resembling a scout around the area. For all anyone could tell, Esmeralda was dead. Before Scylla could celebrate her own victory, however, she was rocked with a staggering pain from behind, causing her eyes to widen and the dragon-girl to double over in absolute pain. Her minute had been depleted, and the attack she redirected had made its way back towards her like a boomerang. Falling to her knees, Scylla slipped into unconsciousness, the surprise attack taking a bigger toll than she expected. The match was a draw. END